Terim waits on team selection

Turkey coach Fatih Terim faces an anxious wait to see what sort of team he will be able to put out in their Euro 2008 semi-final against Germany with injuries and suspensions decimating his squad.

PUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: 08:46, Sat, Jun 21, 2008

Fatih Terim

Terim went into Friday's quarter-final against Croatia in Vienna with just 15 outfield players and with eight of his starting XI on a yellow card, and three of those eight - Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik - duly picked up bookings during the match and will be suspended for Wednesday's semi, while captain and talisman Nihat Kahveci is doubtful (suspected groin injury).

"I haven't been able to do any damage assessment yet and I have to go back to hotel and see what damage there is to the team," said Terim following his side's penalty shoot-out victory. "We have injured players and suspended players, so we will have to see about all that."

Turkey have made a habit of claiming comeback victories during Euro 2008, having fought back from deficits to beat both Switzerland and Czech Republic in the group stages.

Against the Swiss, Turkey trailed at half-time and only snatched a 2-1 win thanks to Arda Turan's injury-time strike, while the Czech match was even more dramatic with Terim's men scoring three times in the last 15 minutes to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win.